Final Score: Guardians 4, Phillies 3
On the day the Phillies handed out Kyle Schwarber “Schwarbomb” beach towels to all kids 14 and under, the man himself hit a pair of Schwarbombs. His first led off the bottom of the first inning. His second came in his second at-bat and gave the Phillies an early three-run lead.
Schwarber’s two homers came one day after he went 3-for-5 with two doubles and a home run. They also came against 24-year-old left-hander Joey Cantillo, who made his major-league debut Sunday. The Phillies’ designated hitter entered play with a .985 OPS versus southpaws this season, the second-best mark in Major League Baseball among left-handed hitters. Only Yordan Alvarez’s (.988) of the Houston Astros was higher.
After Schwarber’s early-game success against Cantillo, Guardians’ skipper Stephen Vogt brought right-hander Cade Smith, one of his club’s top relievers, into a tied game with two runners on base in the bottom of the fourth to face Schwarber. Smith struck Schwarber out, then struck Trea Turner out to end the inning and keep the game tied.
Unfortunately for the Phillies, once they got into it, they couldn’t find success against the Guardians’ bullpen. Those back-to-back strikeouts by Schwarber and Turner with two runners on would come back to haunt them. So would Nick Castellanos flying out with two runners on to end the seventh inning with the Phillies down by a run.
Starting in the fifth inning, Rob Thomson dipped into his bullpen. Gregory Soto worked a 1-2-3 fifth. Orion Kerkering pitched the sixth and got out of a jam. But in the seventh, after getting two outs, José Alvarado gave up the eventual game-winning home run to Steven Kwan.
Thomson’s club went down in order in both the eighth and ninth innings. Emmanuel Clase pitched the ninth and recorded his second save of the series.
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